Oppposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday the toppling of a key parliamentary ally from the leadership of Myanmar's army-linked ruling party showed her country was "not very far along" the path to democracy.

"We are supposed to be going along the path of democratisation but events over the last couple of weeks show that we are not very far along that path yet," she told AFP, of the removal of Shwe Mann as ruling party leader on August 13 -- a move that strengthened the hand of the military.